It’s February and it’s time to “spell it out” and put down some Goals for 2013 in Writing. I’ve been collecting strength and strategy / wondering if I will be brave enough to actually verbalize it? Some of you know I come from a Visual Arts background first and that Dog Training – like for most of today’s Trainers – is a second career. The super short version of my first educational background is that I did a Master’s in Visual Communication – having had a love and passion for all art as well as photography for a long time. My first real job out of University was working as a Freelance Photographer for the Daily Gleaner in Fredericton, NB. Simultaneously I held a part-time job as Media Production Assistant at UNB; assisting in the department of Media Services and catering to the University’s Visual needs. Well – fast forward about 15 years and photography was for many of these years left aside while pursuing the second Passion of my Life: Dogs. I didn’t know whether I would ever return to Photography or not. For a while – as film cameras everywhere were replaced by Digital cameras – I didn’t even have anything other than a point-and-shoot digital camera. Couldn’t justify spending the money on a good DSLR if I wasn’t going to be “shooting for real”. My focus has, for the last 10 years, been entirely on Dogs! The Training and Behaviour part, that is.And the years rolled by as I immersed myself in the Learning of All-Things-Dog. All my darkroom equipment from days past became obsolete, film cameras collected dust and became obsolete…and the knowledge I seemed to have gathered – much about printing and darkroom techniques: also became obsolete.

But as months have turned into years and years translated into a Wonderful and Fulfilling career working with Dogs in a Training Capacity – it feels like it’s now time to start merging my Two Passions; to pick up the camera again and Really make a commitment to shooting. I have no idea where this will take me or what will unfold. Just know it feels so right that I must put it down on paper. My Big Goal for 2013 is to “Shoot lots of Dogs” – yeah yeah that sounds bad for a “dog friendly trainer” – doesn’t it – but maybe that’s part of the reason I enjoy that juxtaposition?! Therefore, over the next few months I am going to be mixing blog posts about training with lots of posts with Photos of Dogs. I hope you’ll enjoy the Visual Component that is to come! A new Year, a New Journey – I hope you’ll check back often to see where this Road might go?!I have no idea – but I’m excited!

In many ways it is, isn't it: a perfect marriage of two fields so connected. And because so much of dog photography and portraiture is about expression and being able to "see" what the dog is saying – a feel the training component is tremendously of value when standing behind the camera…we'll see what happens next, for now, – I'm excited to "have said it"!